Smashing Pumpkins’ third studio album was a sprawling, two-disc opus that became an unlikely hit in 1975. Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness combines the band’s typical heavy metal and grunge sound with softer, more experimental songs, resulting in a 28-track marathon.
There’s a theory that every double album would be better if culled down to its best 12 songs (see my recent editing of Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department). That is definitely the case with this one.
I strive to appreciate music and movies across many different genres, but everything has its limits. I can name a dozen or so horror films I really love, for example, but most turn me off completely.
When it comes to music, I’ve always had blind spots for heavy metal and rap. Rap is like horror, where I can pick and choose the bright spots. But metal is a non-starter. That displeasure extends to metal’s gentler cousin, grunge, which is one reason I’m a little out of step with the music of the early 90s.
Meet Me In Montauk 